Jon Stewart made his triumphant return to The Daily Show new desk on Tuesday following a three-month hiatus.
Although he took a leave of absence this summer to film his new movie Rosewater in Jordan, it would appear that Stewart is ready and willing to get back to his day job. However, he didn’t slide back into his position without having a bit of fun first.
In a gag that ran at the beginning of Tuesday’s episode, John Oliver — who filled in during Jon Stewart’s break from the Comedy Central program — takes a trip to the host’s dressing room. When he realizes that Stewart has changed during his trip to the Middle East, Oliver sets out to correct the issue.
To get Stewart back on track, Oliver and fellow correspondent Jessica Williams hook the guy up to a pair of Big Macs and Stephen Colbert. Once this sketch was out of the way, Jon Stewart kissed his desk and returned to business.
“I’ve missed you so much. You don’t know what it’s like out there, nobody applauds every little stupid thing you do,” Jon Stewart told the Daily Show audience.
He added, “For all that I appreciate and learned about the culture that I was immersed in, boy, I’m Western, in all its glorious, decadent imperfections. I recall driving back to New York City thinking, ‘Hello dildo shop near a school.’”
After being debriefed on the number of topics that were covered in his absence — Paula Deen and Sharknado were among the subjects — Jon Stewart reported about the problems that are currently heating up in Syria. He also had to deal with the fact that Crossfire is back on the air.
You can find the opening segment of Tuesday’s show below.
Although John Oliver did a fine job handling The Daily Show over the summer, this writer is certainly happy to see Jon Stewart back behind that old news desk once again.
[Image via Comedy Central]